The food ministry has made the government of India the biggest stasher of grains in the world and added to constant food inflation.
The food ministry recently chose to decrease the least export price of wheat to $260 a tonne from $300 a tonne. Trade anticipates wheat exports to rocket to 7 million tonnes in the 12 months from April from 5.3 million tonnes a year before.
This may seem like the right move, knowing the enormous stockpiles with the government, an abundant harvest this year and the requirement to clear stocks to build up storage room for fresh procurement, which the government has to undertake to give farmers their minimum support price. But, it is not just India that is in for a plentiful yield of wheat. Much of the world has been witnessing abundant crops and the price of wheat has gone down sharply.
Food market analysts suggested the government to export wheat six months ago. If it had approved state-owned trading companies, which export on behalf of the government, to react to market signs, forecasters calculate that India could have exported 6 million tonnes of wheat six months ago at $290-300 a tonne. Failing to take a judgment in time has charged us heavily. The abandoned income is not just dollar income but also the transporting cost of excess wheat.
This is an organized amount, running to a couple of billion dollars. The ministry’s failure to take timely decisions has lead to exchequer losing this much profits. Shouldn’t the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) grasp the senior kfood ministry officials accountable?
The food ministry races with that of health for being the nastiest-run ministry in the country. Its unlawful ignorance of timely decision-making has made the government of India the biggest stasher of grains in the world and added to constant food inflation. The Cabinet has been unsuccessful to hold them responsible but the CAG must, at least. The food ministry has been escaping with murder for long.
